When a person calls a toll-free customer service phone number, such as for information on a credit card account or the like, the person is typically presented with an Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) system. This IVR system includes a series of prompts which enable the person to obtain information by pushing buttons on the phone or through voice recognition. At some point, the person is typically presented with the option to speak with a person, such as an agent or service representative of the company. Upon choosing this option, the caller is then placed in a hold queue, typically in the order in which the calls were received by the company, until an agent is available to take the call. Depending on the number of callers ahead in the queue, the amount of wait time for an agent can be brief or long. Many people experience frustration with the need to work through the various IVR prompts and the wait time for an agent when finally able to get into the hold queue.
People also need to dial different toll-free numbers for different accounts. For example, American Express has a specific phone number, as does Citibank, United Airlines, etc. It is inconvenient to keep track of and locate the different phone numbers for each company.